by Chris Hechtl
Irons snorted at that thought. Not likely, he thought, shaking his head. He thought about it for a moment then shrugged. “Issue a sign up bonus to those who sign up with skills we need badly. Then shoot a memo off to the cybers to let them go. Are you getting anywhere with the recruiting drive?”
“Yes. The problem is we're being swamped with prospects, Admiral. There are thousands of organics signing up daily, both on the military websites and the contractor websites. We've set up mirrors and they are bogging down too. We hardly need the video spots, posters, and other media I had planned on, the media is doing that for us by keeping us at the top of the news cycle,” she reported.
“So, you haven't released the games you created either?” he asked, clearly amused.
“No, but I did release the games that the navy had created in the past. On their own server. They are quite popular since they are free,” Sprite stated. She planned on holding her games for another cycle.
“...and educational,” the admiral agreed with a half smile. Not that he was going to tell the people playing the games that. It was another form of not only training, but viral marketing. The commander and those she had tapped to help her with the recruiting were using anything they could think of to aide in their endeavors.
“We have several documentaries set up and we're negotiating the rights to them now. Or I should say I am. On top of everything else,” Sprite said, shaking her virtual head. “Fortunately you organics process information slow so I can multitask easier.”
“For now. How is Fletcher coming along?” The admiral asked.
“Fair to middling, thanks for asking,” Fletcher responded. “But I need a nap,” he said in a child's voice. He cut out of the circuit immediately.
“He's like that. He's a hybrid AI so hopefully he won't need as much downtime and will be stable. Or stabler than a smart AI like I am,” Sprite said.
“He'll need it in the Intel shop,” the admiral said in agreement. “Progress on the construction?”
“Commander Sindri's people are on task and on schedule, Admiral. Ahead in some areas,” Sprite stated. The admiral nodded. A lot had been done in the past twenty-four hours he thought. While he had been stuck in meetings and chained to one replicator or another Sindri had made himself hoarse from bellowing orders to move faster. Also deafened a few people too, the admiral thought with a wry twist of his lips. He was elated by the progress however. Not only did they have the ansible equipment deployed, but they also had the fighter construction platform framed out. It was a long tube, with rings around it. The rings were sub assembly modules, they would build the parts then pass them on inward combining them until they were put on the craft in the central tube. The central tube was one long assembly line with each craft in a cradle moving down the line from assembly point to assembly point. Teams were still finishing the fine details but they were on track there. He estimated another week before the first fighter started construction. Perhaps less. Once they could build fighters it would only be a matter of reprogramming and minor retraining to turn out shuttles, tugs, and other small craft all in the same plant.
The part assembly centers for the larger ships were going up nicely, as were the initial slips. Already a pair of slips for a corvette were near completion. Around them boxy clusters were being assembled. Parts would flow in from outside platforms. Each of the small boxes would be a place for a sub assembly to take shape. They would then move on to larger box spaces to be formed into modules, and then on to grand blocks and then into the main bay for final assembly. When they got it down right a ship would go together in a week or less depending on the crew and part supply.
But before they started construction of the fighters and ship components they had to have raw material. Tugs had also been deployed in a swarm to the belt. They were going to be bringing in hundreds, and then thousands of tons of material to the orbital smelters. He made a note to deploy a smelter on a freighter like the three currently already in use. He didn't want them on the task for long, he had better uses for a starship, but if they could stage the tugs from the freighter it would significantly cut down on the times involved while increasing their processed intake and cut down on the time it took the factory ships and replicators to process the raw material.
“Admiral, are you still going to restrain construction on the fortresses?” Sprite asked, changing the subject. “We've had inquiries,” she said.
“Of course,” the admiral stated absently as he continued to read the report he had in front of him. He checked the clock on the replicator he and Proteus were rebuilding. They still had an hour to go.
“Why? You know they are popular, right?”
“They are also practically useless, Commander,” the admiral said. “And you know that. That was why I redirected their design to a carrier version. We'll do something about shields and point defense later,” he said as he shook his head. “I'm not going to divert weapons, especially capital ship weapons from the production lines to outfit them. Nor the massive number of power plants they will need to power them and the shields. I'd rather all of that go into starships,” he said.
“Understood.”
“Besides, a carrier version can be used for more than just fighters,” the admiral explained, sitting back and pushing the tablet he'd been reading away with his fingertips. “It can for instance service drones. A fortress could deploy swarms of drones of various types to project power. The drones are attritional devices and can be replaced a lot easier than cutting into a rock to rebuild a graser mount.”
“True.”
“Most people do not understand that a ship can come in on any axis if they have the right people at the helm,” the admiral said shaking his head. “Jump points exist because they are cleared lanes for a ship to jump into. Back in the old days ...”
“Your time? Or just prior to me?” Sprite asked with a grin.
“I'm talking at the start of Terran star travel, Commander,” the admiral said. She nodded. “Back in that time period Lagroose industries had to use cetaceans to helm their ships. It was dangerous, but it got the job done.”
“Their sensors were practically myopic by our standards you mean,” Sprite observed. “And they didn't have grav detectors in hyperspace. Or half the hyperspace sensors we have now.”
The admiral nodded. “That is correct. But they didn't know for a time that their competitors had realized that it was the Oort cloud around the star that was the problem. Move the ship outside it then jump and they were safe. Which was why the Chinese and Star Reach managed to have normal humans at the helm of their ships.”
“A lot of good that did them,” Sprite said with a shake of her virtual head. They both knew the history of star travel.
“True,” the admiral replied with a slight twist of his lips. “But that is why unmodified humans can pilot a ship now. At least while in easy sections of hyperspace,” he said. “Apparently there was some competition going on. When the various companies compared notes they decided to clear jump lanes to allow their ships access to a star system. Which they have done throughout the galaxy.”
“Which brings us back to your point. That if the enemy wants to, they can jump in outside the Oort cloud and then come in under ballistic just like the Veraxins and Taurens did for centuries. That was why Eden and other colonies in this sector were captured so easily during the first Terran interstellar war. And a fortress is pinned to its location,” Sprite observed.
“Exactly. But a carrier version can still project its force in the volume of space around it, as well as throughout the solar system given enough time.”
“I see.”
“And the carrier fortresses will be perfect training grounds for pilots to hone their skills before they are committed to a carrier,” the admiral said. The AI nodded again. “And since fighters are small and easy to make, we can make thousands,” the admiral said. “The same for the drones.”
“I see. Quantity and quality all in one,” the AI said
with a nod.
“Exactly. We'll scale it up to gunboats and gunships as the yard comes online. I think we're still on schedule for it,” he said, checking quickly. He nodded when he got his answer. In some cases they were ahead of schedule due to the yard workers from the third convoy. That was great.
“But the small craft aren't your first priority,” Sprite said, reminding him of what he'd planned out with her and Proteus over the weeks and months while in transit.
“No. No, but it is the one thing people will see. And seeing a couple squadrons in the air or in space should make for an impact with the population,” he said.
“Understood, Admiral,” Sprite replied with a nod. “And quite the inspiring public statement as well.”
“It will be. And yes, I know they want to see wallers. We'll get there. Eventually.”
“Eventually. One step at a time.”
“Definitely,” the admiral muttered as he picked up the tablet again.
...*...*...*...*...
Sindri looked down the long assembly line and shook his massive head. He was in heaven. If only they could do this with starships! He frowned thoughtfully then shook his head. No, he'd read the reports, seen the videos of how a yard worked. They could only do so much in a shirt sleeve environment, eventually they had to work in an open bay.
Still, it would have been nice. Even just scaling it up to the corvettes ... he frowned and then shook his head no. It wasn't worth the headaches involved. If anything went wrong inside, if they lost atmo the work crews would be toast. They'd already had a few problems when some damn fool idjet had tried to dock at a construction habitat too hard and ripped the station's docking node enough to send everyone scrambling for suits.
“Coming to check on things, Chief?” Meia asked. She sent him a link so they could chat in normal voices and still hear each other. He scowled but clicked it. He noted with approval that the lieutenant was wearing a hard hat and protective glasses like he was. Safety was important.
“I heard you were playing tourist, cluttering up the place,” Sindri replied with a retort as he eyed her. “I thought you were playing with Maine's tactical computers?”
“Lobsterman's getting all snippy. And Commander Sprite needs all the processing power now for stuff going on,” she mock pouted, waving a hand. “I had some off duty time so I thought I'd take a tour.”
“Getting anxious to get into a cockpit again?”
She chuckled. “Something like that. I'd really like to see one of these baby's with my name on her side,” she said, pointing to a Cobra. “I thought we were going to be in space?”
“A Cobra is a fine fighter design, lieutenant,” Sindri replied. “Easy to make, very versatile.” He indicated the fuselage in front of them. It was just that, the fuselage, and mostly a skeleton at this point he noted. The wings and other parts would be attached further down stream in the plant. They could see the wiring and hoses running through the craft like arteries and veins, all color coded. A worker was under the craft, checking her over before signing off on it apparently. Wiring connected the craft to a computer nearby. At each stage her electronics and wiring harness was tested thoroughly.
She held up a hand and shook her head. “Oh, I'm not knocking it. I love em. I just wanted to try my hand at some of the more advanced models.”
“You'll get your chance,” Sindri replied. He ducked under a robotic arm that was swinging a yellow cradle over the craft in front of them. The cradle was attached by a couple people in seconds on the dorsal side then the ventral cradle detached smoothly. That allowed the craft to move forward to the next assembly point where components could be plugged in from the underside.
Sindri turned to see landing gear and wiring harnesses already being set up at the next point. They were already clearing that work station of its craft to move on down the line. There workers were holding up mats to lay over the craft to protect it as they and mechs climbed about it.
“I thought this would be in null g,” Meia said, leaning over to the smaller man.
“It has its drawbacks,” the chief admitted. “I thought so too, but it can be a pain in the ass. This is simpler.”
“I see. Remember the projects you built on Maine? The shuttle and fighters?”
“And the tug. Yes. That was practice. Good practice, but it turns out this way is a hell of a lot quicker,” Sindri said with a nod of approval as he crossed his arms in front of him. “Two squadrons of fighters than we have to switch to the next craft. More tugs. We always need more tugs.”
“Damn. Why can't they just keep making fighters?”
“Because, like I said, we need tugs. So, we have to retool, reprogram, then start over. Fortunately it's not that hard, or so the admiral said. An hour with the computers. Once the replicators and parts mills in the sub assembly points start churning them out it all comes together like Legos. Or so I've been told.”
“What are Legos?”
“Damned if I know,” Sindri said, shaking his head.
“Want to go get some coffee and shoot the shit?” Meia asked, raising an eyebrow his way.
Sindri blinked in surprise. To get asked out by a beautiful young lady was a bit of a shock. Most of the ladies did their best to avoid stepping on him. But then again, Meia was an old friend. “Hell no, I've got to get back to work,” Sindri said. He clapped her on the shoulder then patted it. “You stay out of their hair.”
“Aye aye, commander,” Meia said with a nod.
“Go find a fighter simulator or something. Or go spell a rocket jock on a shuttle,” Sindri suggested. “While I get to go catch up on paperwork,” he said, making a face.
“Thought you'd be in the thick of it?”
“Oh, I am,” Sindri said, moving away. “The problem is, this place runs on reports and shit. It's a headache and a half. And it's only going to get harder as we expand.”
“I feel for you, Chief,” Meia said. “Good luck.”
“We make our own. Among other things,” Sindri said, waving a hand in goodbye.
...*...*...*...*...
“Admiral, it's not that we're questioning you or your judgment, it's the priorities you've set. But you are the expert,” Sid said carefully. He and his wife Emily had been at the forefront of complaints about the employee poaching. He'd tried to divert the discussion to bring that up but the governor hadn't been interested. When the admiral had shown them his priorities that had opened up their present discussion.
“That's right he is,” Sprite said defensively. The admiral twitched a hand to get her to tone it down. The meetings had gone well so far, he didn't need her to back anyone into a corner.
“One of the things the Federation had going for it was the ansible. Without it the Federation would have been a nonstarter,” the admiral explained. He shook his head in amusement at some of the expressions of those in the room. “Think about it. Eden, Pyrax, if you prefer, was the sector capital. It was also the first Terran settled colony if you remember your history,” he said. One or two people looked confused. They were from the ground, those from the station with their better education immediately nodded in agreement and understanding.
“Before the core worlds, before any of the other worlds. All because of the Sirius B-92 bridge,” he explained. That was true he thought. “Had they not had the ansible the individual star systems would have been on their own. Or they would have formed nation states, possibly even dangerous ones. The ansible network had allowed the various species and their colonies to become one big happy if rambunctious family. Or so the stories went.” The reality was a bit different, but for now he needed to focus on the positives to sell the idea the admiral thought.
“That's right!” Sid said, snapping his virtual fingers. “I forgot about that!”
“Most people have forgotten a lot of their history. They've been too busy surviving,” Miss Mitrian said mildly.
“But what good will having instant communications do?” The governor asked carefully.
“Well, think about it. It means locally we can send and receive information to Pyrax and other systems near instant. Not instant, there is a slight delay in transmission and reception. We can't violate physics to that degree, sorry. But, it's near enough for our purposes anyway,” he explained. “For us we can transmit information to them, say about elections or, convoys and lists. Also banking and other economic issues,” he said.
The lieutenant Governor whistled, eyes wide as she caught on. “I can see the appeal. We could order something from another system or they could put in orders here. And negotiations would go a lot easier. Remember what we've been going through with Pyrax recently?”
The admiral nodded. “Right. We'll have up to date intelligence transfer as well. Warning of raiders in the area alone is vital,” he explained.
The governor nodded. Others grimly nodded as well. “With enough of a lead time we can send a warning to Triang. Or ships to ambush the enemy,” Sprite said suggestively. “Throw them off their game and make them break their teeth where they expect no resistance and therefore their guard is down.”
The admiral nodded as a few people growled in agreement over that idea. “Exactly. And Triang will be eventually a part of the network, so she can pass on a warning of ship movement as well. While the fleet was in the system I used the replicators and industrial plant in the factory ship as well as Maine to make a lot of components. Some of them were for the ships here, some were for the industrial complex to support a shipyard, and some were for the ansible project.”
“So you are making it a priority? Above everything else?” the lieutenant governor asked, sounding dubious. “Here I thought you've be building bombs and ships and stuff,” she said, shaking her head in wonder.
“We will do it in parallel. Antigua Prime has some of the equipment we need. Fortunately Captain Logan already shipped the station components in,” he said.